Workers working on building roofs risk serious injury or even death in the event of a fall from that roof or in the event of tipping of a ladder used to access that roof. As such, many jurisdictions impose workplace safety rules to govern conditions for accessing and working on roofs. For example, in Ontario, Canada, regulations enacted under the Occupational Health and Safety Act require guard rails to be installed on a building roof, if the building roof does not have a parapet of sufficient height to prevent workers from falling off. Those regulations also require the use of devices to secure the top ends of ladders used for roof access, to prevent falls caused by accidental tipping of those ladders. Similar requirements exist in other jurisdictions.
Various ways of erecting guard rails on roofs are known. For example, guard rails may be erected using support posts bolted or otherwise securely planted into roofs. It is also known to erect guard rails using support posts that are each attached to a heavy weight. However, while guard rails protect workers from falls while they are on a roof, they do nothing to protect workers from falls while they are ascending or descending on ladders used to access that roof. Thus, any ladder used to access that roof must be separately secured, as required by safety regulations.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved roof safety apparatuses.